Door latch



April 14, 1931. J, GALAMB 1,800,619

DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 3l, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l J. GALAMB 1,800,619

DOOR LATCH Filed Aug. 31, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 14, 1931.

INVENTOR.

Patented pr. 14, 1931 tran srrs J'OSEM'ELEIIV G-ALMB, OF DETROIT, MCHGAN, ASSIGNOR TO FOR-D MOTOR COMPANY, OF DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE DOORl LATCH Original application led August 15, 1927, Serial No. 212,909. Divided and this application led August Theobject of my invention is to provide a door latch of simple, durable and inexpensive construction.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a door latch specially adapted for use in connection with the doors of an automotive vehicle whereby the door pillars may be of minimum thickness to there# by make the vision from the body greater and whereby the controls for opening the latch may be most conveniently placed.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide a door latch for an automobile body door wherein the door is made from sheet metal and comprises inner and outer panels with the door pillars therebetween whereby the glass channel for the door may rest against the inner surfaces of the door pillar thereby largely decreasing the cross section of the doorj pillar. l

Still a further objectof my invention is to provide a door latch wherein the outside door handle may vbe disposed adjacent to the surface of the door glass and the inside door handle maybe disposed at a place spaced very materially from the door pillar and the door latch may be shaped to pass around the edge of the door glass to thereby make the latch construction compact and so that it will not materially increase the cross sectional area of the door pillar.

Still a furtherV object4 of my, invention is to provide a door latch for use in connection with a sheet metal door wherein the latch is formed from a strip of sheet metal which is bent angularly at various points along its length toprovide a bridge-extending around the edge'of the door glass and a lug at either end which may be operated by the adjacent door handle whereby the door latch may be operated from either the inside or the outside of the door, and still it is not necessary to run any parts of the lock: directly through the door pillar to Serial No. 389,656.

thereby increase the necessary cross sectional area of said pillar.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in combination with such a latch, an inside door handle, which may be extended to position near the center of the door or to whatever position may be most convenient for the operator to reach.

Still a further object of my invention is to provide in combination with an outside door locking handle for use in connection with my improved lock, a key operated locking member which may prevent turning of the outside door handle without iirst using a key.

Stille further object of my invention is to provide in connection with such an outside door handle, key operated means for locking the handle from rotary movement and an arrangement in the nature of the keyhole slot connection to prevent the door handle from being withdrawn from the door when it is in such locked position.

With these and other objects in View my invention consists in the arrangement, combination, and construction of the various parts of my improved device as described in the specifications, claimed in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l shows an elevation of my improved door latch looking along the inside of the door toward the door pillar, the glass channel and glass being removed to better illustrate the construction.

Figure 2 shows a horizontal sectional view through the door and body pillar taken on the line 2-2 of Figure l, the inside operating handle being shown to better illustrate the construction.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view taken on the line 3.-3 of Figure 2.

Figure l shows a sectional view taken on the line lf-4 of Figure l.

the outside door handle for replacing or repairs, the escutcheon plate is unscrewed7 and f the handle unlocked, which will permit the door handle to be turned to .the position where the squared portion of the shank 28 will pass through the retaining member 25, thereby permitting withdrawal laterally of the entire door-handle assembly.

The lrey operated loch construction is not herein illustrated as such constructions are all Vwell known in the art and any standard commercial form of the cylinder type may be disposed in the door handle 34 to reciprocate the bolt 33. The washer 31 is rotat ably but non-slidably mounted on the door handle within the escutclieon plate 35 by means of a washer 6G and a spring 67 whereby the door handle assembly may be removed or installed by turning the handle 45 and setting or taking out the two screws 36.

A spring 37 has a couple of convolutions passing around the latch pintle 13 and one end thereof bearing against an extension 38 to the latch 15 while the opposite end of the spring bears against the inside door panel 11 at 39. This spring 37 therefor-e tends to normally urge the latch 15 into its normal or extended position. It will be noted therefore that the latch 15 may move to its retracted position when the door is slammed without affecting the position of the outside door handle as the lug 16 simply moves away from the lug 22 and the latch will be returned to its normal position by spring 37. The latch 15 is provided beyond the extension 38.with the lug 40 which is formed integral therewith.

The inside door panel 11 is provided with a bead or channel 41 which coacts with clips 42 to provide a bearing for a rod 43 which extends along the outside of the inside door panel to operate the door latch from the inside of the door. The end of this rod 43 adjacent to the lug 40 is bent to form a crank 44 whereby rotation of the rod 43 may swing the crank 44 against the lug 40 to thereby retract the latch 15. The remote end of the rod 44 is provided with an arm `45 which is preferably formed integral -therewith and which extends through a slot in the adjacent clip 42 so that a handle 46 may be secured thereto. It will be seen'that if the handle 46 is grasped adjacent to its free end, pulling thereon away from the outer panel 11 will rotate rod 43 to thereby retract latch 15. It will be noted that this rod 43 may be of any suitable length so that the handle 46 may be placed at the mostconvenient the car to reach. A spring 47 is designed to coact with the rod 43 to return to the normal position with the arm 45 stopped place for the operator of .Aagainstfa `stop 72 formed integral withthe clip `42 andto-prevent rattle thereof.

`Door latch 15 coacts with an adjustable striker yplate62 which is Vmoved to the desired position within a channel 63 which forms a lpart of the body pillar 64. Adjustknientofl the striker plate 62 is accomplished by looseningscrew 65 to thereby permit the lstriker plate 62 to slide along the channel 63 to position "to latch the door so that it will not rattle. Tiglitening screw 65 will then lock the striker plate `due to theserrations onthe bottom of the plate and the channel 63.

Among the many advantages arising from my improved latchit will be seen that I have provided means whereby the glass channel may rest against the central portion Vof the door pillar so that the total blind spot may be as small as possible.

Still a further advantage results from the use of my improved device in that separate spring means are provided for returning practically all of the parts to normal position so that rattle is largely eliminated.

A further advantage results from the novel and convenient means for preventing removal of the outside door handle when it is locked, and for permitting easy installation or removal of the door handle assembly when it is unlocked.

Still a further advantage results from providing means for mounting the inside door handle whereby it may be extended to the position most convenient for the opera-` tor, and whereby the extended inside door handle may be mounted on the door with few additional parts and little change in the panel.

Some changes may be made in the con-W.;

struction and combination and arrangement" of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

This application is a division of my pending Serial Number 212,909, filed August 15, 1927.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a door latch, a door having inside and outside panels connected at one edge with a door pillar, a latch pivoted to the door pillar, a horizontal groove formed in the inside panel, an operating rod rotatably mounted in said groove, a cra-nh formed on one end of the operating rod extending through the inside door panel in position to co-act with the door latch, and an operating handle secured to the other end of said rod.

2. In a door latch for automobiles, a door formed from sheet material having inside and outside panels connected at one edge with a door pillar, a latch pivoted to the i. 

